As part of her 99-county tour of Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds made a stop at Heavy Equipment Manufacturing in Grundy Center last Friday, where she tour took a tour and talked shop with leadership at HEM.

During the visit, HEM’s CEO Roger Bockes shared news of an upcoming expansion with Gov. Reynolds.

“The demand for road-paving equipment has more than doubled in the last year,” Bockes said. “We’ve already expanded our product line, and we’re expecting an expansion in the next year or so.”

Bockes said the expansion is still in the talking stages right now, but that the plan is to expand the number of units the company puts out, as well as the number of employees. This will require extra space as well, Bockes said.

Bockes added that this expansion is good news for Grundy Center, as HEM leadership is hoping to create more jobs and find more employees from around the local area.